Editor's note

Cloud computing is reshaping the application development landscape. Gone are the days of breaking the bank for compute resources during the application development and testing phase. Instead, the cloud allows developers to quickly and cost-effectively spin up new environments to test and design their apps.

While developing cloud applications is still a relatively new IT priority, enterprises are already reaping the benefits, such as cost savings and increased agility. But the cloud also requires developers to rethink how they program, test and deploy applications. When building applications for the cloud, for instance, developers must design them to take advantage of cloud-native features, such as auto scaling.

What's more, cloud application development is spurring new processes like DevOps and continuous development, which break down IT silos and accelerate the delivery of new applications. But as these new processes are introduced into the enterprise, issues arise. Use this essential guide to improve and optimize the cloud app development process, as well as protect and test what you've already built.

1Tools and techniques for developing cloud applications

Developers aren't on their own when it comes to building new applications for the cloud. A number of cloud vendors, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, offer development tools to help make the process more simple and secure. In addition, more development teams are using open source platform as a service (PaaS) tools, such as Red Hat OpenShift, to create new cloud apps. There are also general best practices for shortening timelines and cutting costs when developing cloud applications. But it's important to determine which is the best fit for your needs.

2Testing and securing enterprise cloud applications

With the fear of data breaches looming over every enterprise's head, the need for security has never been more of a priority. Testing applications is one of the most effective ways to find vulnerabilities and prevent attacks, so it's crucial for organizations to build an in-depth application testing plan. In addition, organizations can use a variety of security tools to protect their mission-critical apps and APIs in the cloud.

3Cutting costs, boosting performance of cloud applications

Developing cloud applications can be costly, so it pays for organizations to squeeze the most out of their cloud apps. Fortunately, there are various tools and strategies that can help developers cut costs and optimize their cloud applications' performance. Among other steps, organizations should always perform a cost-benefit analysis of their cloud apps, have a solid understanding of their applications' total cost of ownership and deploy cost analysis tools.

4Terms to know for cloud app development

As cloud application development processes evolve, the terminology used to describe those processes, and the technology behind them, is also constantly changing. Look out for these emerging and commonly used words in the cloud application development world.